How to Trade Tesla (TSLA)

Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founded Tesla Motors on July 1, 2003, in San Carlos, inspired by GM's recall and destruction of all EV1 electric cars that same year. Elon Musk led the Series A with $7.5M in February 2004, becoming chairman and later claiming co-founder status.

The Tesla Roadster entered production in 2008 as the first highway-legal EV using lithium-ion batteries. Priced at $109,000, it offered 245 miles per charge and 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds. Musk became CEO, replacing Eberhard that year. Tesla nearly went bankrupt during the financial crisis, requiring emergency funding.

Tesla went public on June 29, 2010, on NASDAQ at $17/share, raising $226 million. It was the first US automaker to IPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956. At the time, Tesla only produced the Roadster, and few believed it could compete with industry giants.

The Model S sedan launched in 2012, winning Car of the Year; followed by the Model X SUV in 2015 and the Model 3 in 2017. The latter was a mass-market EV that Musk famously described as 'production hell.' Tesla faced massive short-selling before proving its critics wrong.

2020 was TSLA's most incredible year, with the price soaring over 700% in a single year. This was driven by five consecutive quarters of profitability, the opening of Gigafactory Shanghai, Battery Day announcements, and a retail investor frenzy during the pandemic. Tesla joined the S&P 500 in December 2020.